Court Hears Jail Talk

Witness: Inmate Bragged About Being A Hit Man

June 11, 2004|By THOMAS D. WILLIAMS; Courant Staff Writer

MIDDLETOWN — A 34-year-old convict testified Thursday that he got so annoyed hearing a prison cell neighbor brag about being hired to kill a psychologist that after the fifth or sixth conversation about the attempted crime he began taking notes.

Little did Robbie Santos, the alleged braggart, know that he was chatting through cell bars with a professional state witness, Thomas Rodrigues Jr. Rodrigues has since changed his name to Mason S. Marconi to help ``start a new life'' outside prison.

Inside prison a year ago, when Santos asked Marconi why he was taking notes, Marconi said he told Santos he was writing a letter to his girlfriend. Instead, Marconi testified, he was taking notes about how Santos said he tried to kill Derek Hopson, now 48, a clinical psychologist then working at Middlesex Hospital. Santos faces charges of attempted murder in the May 21, 2003, shooting in a parking lot outside the hospital.

Marconi testified that Santos told him that an unidentified woman, who said Hopson had hurt her, hired Santos to kill the psychologist. No other suspect besides Santos, a seven-time convicted felon, has been arrested in the case.

Marconi said he and Santos were about 10 feet apart inside separate cells in the Hartford Correctional Center with other inmates nearby when Santos bragged about his failed murder for hire mission.

Not long after the conversations, said Marconi, he was transferred to an Enfield correctional institution, turned his notes on Santos' confession over to a correction officer and soon was visited by two Middletown detectives and an inspector for the prosecutor's office.

Marconi is no stranger to crime. He said he was convicted in a Massachusetts court three years ago of 50 felonies in connection with a check writing scam that netted him more than $41,000. And, he admitted having a lengthy criminal record going back to shady teenage adventures and street gang activity.

His life as a professional informant with the FBI, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, the Hartford and Wethersfield police and the Massachusetts state police dates back 10 years, Marconi said. Several years ago, Marconi testified about the jailhouse confessions of a suspect charged with killing a child in Massachusetts, and the man was convicted.

Although he received about $2,600 for his various testimonies, Marconi said, his prime motivation was to bring killers and drug dealers to justice.

For instance, Marconi said, while living in Wethersfield with his children between 1994 and 1999 he became upset with dealers selling drugs to children. So, he said, he decided to offer his services to police to trap the dealers, an activity that led to 34 arrests. But, Marconi admitted, his undercover work ended after he stole a pound of marijuana.

Marconi was convicted of the theft and sentenced to three years in prison and three years special parole, from which he was freed in March.

Santos' public defender, Brian S. Carlow, attempted to attack Marconi as a chronic ``liar.'' In Thursday's pretrial hearing, Carlow said Marconi's testimony cannot be used because he, as an informant, was acting as an ``agent'' for the state, and thus violated Santos' constitutional rights to be advised that he could remain silent.

In one instance when Carlow challenged Marconi's account of Santos' alleged confession, Marconi lashed back: ``I'm willing to take a lie detector test! Would he be willing to do so?'' When Carlow asked Marconi what he expected in return for his cooperation, Marconi said Assistant State's Attorney Russell Zentner promised to write a letter to the state parole board.

Carlow is also attempting to suppress Hopson's and two other eyewitnesses' identification of Santos as the shooter as unreliable. He also wants to suppress Middletown Officer Vincent Mazzotta's testimony that his police dog tracked down Santos three-quarters of a mile from the shooting scene.

The hearing continues today in front of Superior Court Judge Robert L. Holzberg with three more witnesses expected.